Disney Vacation - Day 1

After finally arriving at our hotel in Dallas (after several wrong turns thanks to Google maps), we hauled all of our luggage up to our room and immediately put the kids to bed. It was late already, and we had an EARLY morning the next day to catch the shuttle to the airport, so straight to bed we went! This was probably the worst night's sleep EVER. Our curtains in our hotel room didn't close all the way, and there was a ginormous lit-up billboard outside of our window, which was basically shining in our faces all night long. The boys slept well, but Van and I didn't sleep at all. Add the billboard to the anxiety of making it to the airport on time the next morning, and yeah, well...not a good night's sleep.

We awoke the next morning and hopped on the hotel's shuttle at 5:00 a.m. Yes, there is a 5:00 a.m.....and I hope I never see it again. I'm not a morning person...and getting up when it is still dark outside is just so wrong. Anyway, I was hoping the kids would fall asleep on the shuttle and sleep at the airport while waiting, but no luck. They were too excited! We got to DFW Airport, got through security, and sat down to wait on boarding the plane. We ate breakfast while sitting there, and the kids colored in their new coloring books in the floor to pass time.

Finally, we boarded the plane. Aaron sat with me, Van and Evan in front of us, and Trisha and Brooklyn behind us. Sam and Austin were 2 rows behind Trisha and Brook. We all held hands and prayed before the flight took off. Our flight went pretty well. Aaron handled it WONDERFULLY, which was really surprising considering this was his first time on a plane and it was so darn early in the morning. He put on a puppet show, colored in a coloring book, had a snack, and then colored in a new Mickey Mouse Color Wonder book. He thought it was way cool that he could lock and unlock his seat belt by himself. LOL Evan and Trisha got some motion sickness towards the end of the trip and ended up using all of the barf bags around us. Let me tell you, that was AWFUL being stuck in a seat BEHIND my kid when he was sick and I couldn't reach him. Van did a great job at helping him through it, though, and once we landed...he was better.

We made our way down to The Magical Express, which is Disney's bus system that takes us and our luggage straight from the airport to our resort. We didn't have to worry about baggage claim or anything..they handled it all, and it was great!

We arrived at Pop Century Resort and had some lunch in the cafeteria there. Busy place, but super cool! I love the way the resort was decorated...everything was by decades: 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. We got to stay in the 60s area. Our friend, Rosemary, from Have Your Way With Paper met up with us and brought us a case of water, some boxed apple juice for the kids, some bananas, and water mister/fans (which were a lifesaver!). It was great to see Roe again and visit with her for a little bit. Van took Aaron to our room and got him down for a nap while I met up with Roe.

We hopped on a bus from the resort and headed to Magic Kingdom to catch the monorail over to the Contemporary Resort since we had supper reservations at Chef Mickey's. This place was so cool! It was our first character meal, and the kids LOVED it! Aaron had been waiting so patiently to meet the characters, and his little face just lit up when he finally got to meet them! We met Chef Mickey, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse. The food was buffet style and was yummy. The kids really loved the ice cream bar, which featured ice cream and all the toppings they could ever want! We had one of the cutest little desserts, which was made from an Oreo, a chocolate dipped marshmallow, and mini oreos that made the shape of a Mickey head. :)

After supper, we got on the monorail and went to the Polynesian Resort and went to their beach. We sat in beach chairs in the sand and had a great view of Magic Kingdom across the lake. The second I sunk my toes in that cool, white sand....that's when it really felt like vacation had started! :)

The kids had a blast playing in the sand and water while we relaxed. Once it got dark, Van went and bought me a Kona coffee from the coffee bar (yum!), and the Electric Water Parade began. Soooo cool! These giant lit-up scenes on boats appeared out of nowhere, and they put on a great show to music. Everything was animated, and the lights on the water was just so cool to watch. Super cute little show, and the kids loved it!

Then, the fireworks from Magic Kingdom began. It was great being across the lake because the fireworks weren't so loud since we were so far away. But the view was still great! There's nothing like sitting on the beach and watching a fireworks show...it was awesome!

Then, we went back to our resort and crashed. We were utterly exhausted from being up so early and having such a busy day already. Besides, we had fun times at Hollywood Studios planned for the next day! Stay tuned....

Here is a link to the pictures from Day 1: PLEASE CLICK HERE


Enjoy!